USI basketball will face Hoosiers for first time ever next month | POLL

Offer came three weeks ago for Oct. 26 contest

EVANSVILLE - With the addition of Indiana to its schedule, the University of Southern Indiana men's basketball team has put together quite a collection of season-opening games.

And they're all on the road.

USI will start with an exhibition game at IU on Oct. 26, continue with an exhibition at Tennessee on Nov. 7, then open its season at archrival Kentucky Wesleyan on Nov. 19.

The game against IU — which will tip off at 6 p.m. CDT — will be the first ever in men's basketball between the two schools.

USI coach Rodney Watson sounded surprised it even happened at all.

He said he's been trying to get an exhibition game with the Hoosiers since he arrived on the West Side four years ago. Then one day a few months ago he received an email from the IU basketball office saying USI was in the school's rotation for a possible exhibition.

"We didn't hear anything else until three weeks ago when we got an email that asked, ‘Would you happen to have this certain date (Oct. 26) open?' " said Watson. "We said, ‘Absolutely we have that date open.' "

This will be the ninth season that IU has opened with exhibition games against non-Division I schools. The Hoosiers are 14-0 in those games.

Watson doesn't mind.

"You want to play really good exhibition games," he said, already counting the days — 43 after Friday — until the Eagles face the Hoosiers. "While it's an exhibition game, you still want to be as prepared as you can be in October.

"With workouts these first three weeks, I think our guys understand that. They really want to play against Indiana, and they want to play well against Indiana. They also know that Indiana and Tennessee will get us ready for Kentucky Wesleyan."

IU lost all-Americans Cody Zeller and Victor Oladipo to the NBA after the Hoosiers posted a 29-7 record last season, when the Hoosiers reached the Sweet Sixteen in the NCAA tournament before losing to Syracuse.

USI will return at least three of its top five scorers from last season, when it posted a 23-8 record and reached the second round of the Division II Midwest Regional. Back are senior forward Aaron Nelson (11.9 points, 7.9 rebounds), senior forward Taylor Wischmeier (9.9 points, 4.7 rebounds) and senior point guard Lawrence Thomas (9.8 points, 3.7 assists).

"We're really grateful to be playing a Big Ten program with such a storied tradition," said Watson.